Archives Of Weekend Reading For Financial Planners

Enjoy the current installment of “weekend reading for financial planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with the big industry news that the CFP Board has stated it will “affirmatively oppose” any states that attempt to regulate financial planning, in light of the potential cost and regulatory patchwork that could otherwise emerge with different states that have different standards… but without actually setting forth what the organization thinks the ideal Federal regulation of financial planning would look like, and setting the CFP Board at odds with the Financial Planning Association, which has spent years building and deepening its state-level advocacy relationships and capabilities.

Also in the news this week were several other articles about the CFP Board, including the kick-off of the CFP Board’s public forums discussing the new Standards of Conduct to take effect next October of 2019 (and what CFP certificants want in terms of education, support, or simply clarification regarding those rules between now and then), and another article questioning whether the CFP Board has spent too much in time and resources promoting the high standards of the marks and not enough actually enforcing those standards to clean up bad actors (though the CFP Board indicates that it plans to enforce more effectively once the new standards take effect next year).

From there, we have several articles around cash flow and budgeting strategies with clients, including one on how to help clients better track and categorize their spending (based not on wants versus needs to determine what’s essential and what’s discretionary, but simply by helping them reflect on what they spent that actually brought them enjoyment, and what they subsequently regretted, and focusing there first to figure out what to cut), a second on how retirees might plan their retirement expenses based not on their estimated spending habits in retirement but instead based on how they plan to spend their time in retirement (and then figure out what those lifestyle activities will cost), and the last exploring what it really means to be “middle class” (and the challenges in seeing high-income households as “middle class” even though they work in a high-cost-of-living area that means their dollars really don’t go very far).

We also have a few additional articles around credit cards and borrowing, including a look at whether it’s worthwhile to have all clients freeze their credit reports now that it’s free (by national law) from all three major credit bureaus, the prospective benefits of “credit card churning” to rack up travel points with new-card bonuses, and why parents with college-aged children should be filling out the FAFSA even if they don’t think they’ll be eligible for financial aid (because many discover they actually were eligible after the fact, as even some merit-based aid programs also require a FAFSA to be filed!).

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all around the theme of building relationships (with friends, or with clients): the first looks at how the single greatest driver to turning an acquaintance into a friend and then ultimately a confidant is simply spending enough time (which could amount to dozens or hundreds of hours) to really deepen the relationship; the second offers up some better questions besides “What Do You Do?” to more quickly build rapport with someone you’re meeting the first time (in an effort to create more “multiplex” ties beyond just the context of work); and the last looks at what it really takes to create a powerful mentor relationship, which is about more than just finding someone who wants to mentor you, but finding someone who is just far enough ahead of you on the journey to be able to provide insight about what comes next, but is close enough to where you are now to still remember what it was like to be there, too.

Enjoy the current installment of “weekend reading for financial planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with the industry buzz that TD Ameritrade is increasing the AUM threshold of its AdvisorDirect referral program to affiliated RIAs from a $500,000 minimum to $750,000 instead, while also more fully aligning its branch representative compensation above the threshold to compensate brokers equally for referring to TDA’s in-house managed accounts or RIAs in AdvisorDirect, as yet another example of how RIA custodians with a retail presence are moving more and more into the mass affluent space themselves while segmenting off only their most affluent customers to affiliated RIAs… a potential boon to “up-market” independent RIAs that can receive such referrals, but a rising competitive threat and channel conflict for the remaining RIAs that are aiming to serve the mass affluent clientele that retail brokerage firms are increasingly trying to serve themselves with their own managed accounts.

From there, we have several insurance-related articles this week, from a look at how the most comprehensive Medigap supplemental Plan F policies will soon be going away (for new enrollees after 2019) but how the cost savings of almost-similar Medigap Plan G may be more appealing anyway, to the major shift of John Hancock to only sell “interactive” life insurance going forward that will give policyowners the opportunity to obtain premium discounts or other incentives to wear fitness tracking devices (e.g., a Fitbit or Apple Watch) and actually demonstrate they’re adopting healthy exercise and lifestyle habits, a look at how popular universal life policies from 30+ years ago are “suddenly” starting to blow up for retirees in their 70s, 80s, and 90s due to the multi-decade decline in interest rates, and an overview of how hybrid long-term care insurance policies are increasingly replacing the use of traditional LTC insurance… but only for the most affluent clients.

We also have a few investment-related articles, including: an overview of the world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain as they relate to financial advisors; a look at whether consumer adoption of ESG investing is really sluggish, or if advisors are just failing to communicate the opportunity to clients to draw in their interest; a fascinating discussion about what really matters most (and what doesn’t) when it comes to generating long-term investment results; and an evaluation of why individual bonds may not really be any better (and could be worse) than just owning bond funds in the face of a potential rising rate environment.

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all around the theme of how hard it is to change someone’s mind (whether it’s about politics, or how they spend their money): the first looks at how getting people to change their minds on major issues requires them to not only understand new facts and information, but also change their “tribe” and personal identity (such that if we have to change our mind at the cost of our social ties, we’ll often choose factually incorrect information over “loneliness”); the second explores how the best way to win a divisive argument is not to try to prevail on facts and persuasiveness alone but to connect your points to the other person’s frame of reference (which, notably, requires having some empathy for them to better understand their situation in the first place); and the last examines a recent study finding that people are much more likely to change their minds and take in new information when it is presented visually as a chart or graphic than just text… ostensibly because it’s a lot easier to simply ignore text but incredibly difficult to forget a memorable image once it’s seared into our minds?! All of which is again relevant not just in the era of polarized modern politics, but simply getting clients to change their point of view and adopt better money habits, too!

Enjoy the current installment of “weekend reading for financial planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with the big news that the first independent study on the SEC’s proposed Form CRS disclosures on the relationship differences between working with an advisor or a broker… finds that not only do consumers fail to understand the differences in obligations between the two as “explained” by Form CRS, but they misinterpret Regulation Best Interest as being comparable to a fiduciary standard when it’s not, and couldn’t even articulate the differences in costs and services between brokerage versus advisory accounts after reading Form CRS in depth.

Also in the news this week was fresh buzz about the potential for “Tax Reform 2.0” legislation, including a push to make all of the “temporary” sunsetting provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent… with the caveat that the legislation (or what is actually a combination of three different bills in the House) is viewed as likely being dead-on-arrival in the Senate, and that, realistically, any further momentum on tax reform won’t likely happen until 2019 at best (and then will depend on the outcome of the midterm elections).

From there, we have several more articles about the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and recent IRS guidance and planning strategies, from a discussion of the new Kiddie Tax rules and how they work for dependent children, to new IRS guidance on some of the 529 college savings plan provisions of TCJA (in particular, that any type of public, private, or religious school counts for the new opportunity for up-to-$10,000/year of tax-free distributions for K-12 expenses), and a look at how a 50-year-old crackdown on Controlled Foreign Corporations (CFCs) may suddenly be experiencing a revival as a proactive tax planning strategy in a world where top individual tax rates are 37% but the top corporate tax rate (including on CFCs) is “just” 21% now.

We also have a few practice management articles, including: how to tell when advisory firm owners may be “starving” their advisory firm’s growth opportunities by taking too much out of the business (hint: if the owners extract more than 40% of revenue in some combination of compensation and profits, it may be getting “over-milked”); how to formalize the structure of a firm-wide compensation plan for employees so they better understand their upside career opportunities; why the biggest blocking point to better advisor technology is no longer the lack of advisor tech innovation but the struggles of individual advisory firms to effectively adopt the software; and why large financial services firms should consider establishing a “Chief Planning Officer” (CPO) role to better shepherd the transition from traditional financial services product sales to an advice-centric planning business.

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all around the theme of working with couples where the wife outearns the husband: the first explores how marital strife and divorce rates appear to be higher amongst the nearly one-third of couples where the wife earns more; the second covers another recent research study finding that when wives earn more, they tend to downplay her income while overstating his income to narrow the perceived gap (even when reporting to government entities like the Census Bureau!); and the last provides some recommendations of what to consider and bear in mind when providing financial advice to and working with couples where she earns more (and the importance of not making any assumptions about their money dynamics based on who happens to be the primary breadwinner).

Enjoy the current installment of “weekend reading for financial planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with the recent announcement that President Trump has issued an Executive Order for the IRS and Department of Labor to review (and ease) the rules around Multiple Employer [retirement] Plans (MEPs) as a way to expand small business access to employer retirement plans, ideally bringing down costs through greater economies of scale, and at the least giving 401(k)-centric advisors a new way to work with small business owners (by creating and offering their own Open MEP solution?!).

From there, we have several articles about advisor marketing this week, from a look at how it’s not enough to just have a good value proposition for clients if you can’t also explain the process you’ll use to achieve it and provide some “proof” (e.g., sample deliverables) to show your results, to how to engage in a formal “marketing makeover” for your firm (which starts with crafting your own one-page marketing “messaging brief” before you hire anyone to help you implement it, why it’s so important to keep asking “why” (literally, over and over again) to prospects to truly understand their needs, and the reason that advisory firms doing in-person seminar marketing are now turning to Facebook digital advertising as a more cost-effective path to get prospects to attend their seminars in the first place.

We also have a few practice management articles, including: how to think through different types of financial advisor business models based on what’s actually being provided to clients (e.g., investment-only, investments with some planning as needed, planning with some investments as needed, or financial consulting only); why it’s crucial for advisory firm owners to separate out their compensation for the work in the business from their profit distributions for the income from the business; what it takes to successfully take a 6-week sabbatical away from your own advisory firm; and the issues to consider when your multi-advisor partnership actually has to “vote a partner off the island” and remove a partner from the business (without collapsing the business itself in the process!).

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all around the theme of better understanding our own motivations and focus: the first explores fascinating research that finds one of the best ways to help people improve their situation is not for them to receive good advice but actually for them to give it to others, which actually cements their own confidence in their knowledge and helps them formulate a specific plan of action (the one they’re recommending to others as well!); the second looks at how, in the end, there really are no “natural born salespeople,” just people who have a natural desire to help others and learn the very learnable sales skills and conversations it takes to succeed; and a fascinating look at how the popular wisdom to “find and pursue your passion” is awful advice, because, in reality, passions are more likely to evolve from something we actively do, not be something that already exists that we decide to pursue and do more of (which means it’s better to just start doing something you’re interested in and let the passion develop, rather than trying to intuit your passion in the first place).

Enjoy the current installment of “weekend reading for financial planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with the announcement of the CFP Board’s latest public awareness campaign, which will kick off this fall with a series of new ads around the theme of promoting a “more confident today and more secure tomorrow… with a CFP professional,” as the public awareness campaign completes its 6th year of spending $10M+/year from its $145 assessment on what is now 82,000+ CFP certificants.

Also in the news this week was an interesting private letter ruling from the IRS that may clear the way for employers to provide “matching” 401(k) contributions, based not on an employee’s own contributions to the plan, but their payments for their student loans instead (which might alternatively be framed as employers providing student loan assistance for those employees who are also willing to save towards retirement), and a discussion from SEC Commissioner Clayton about possibly expanding the accessibility to private investments for main street investors (potentially through the use of a financial advisor).

From there, we have several articles about investment trends in the industry, from a look at how more and more mutual fund companies are beginning to automatically convert C-shares to A-shares after 7-10 years (ostensibly in response to the SEC’s Share Class Selection Disclosure Initiative earlier this year scrutinizing brokers that used higher-cost share classes when equivalent lower-cost alternatives were available), to the rising concern from Morningstar that not all “Clean” shares are equally clean (and why “bundled”, “semi-bundled”, and truly “unbundled” categories may be a better descriptor), and the discussion of how advisors are becoming even more proactive in seeking out better cash yields for clients who don’t want the low-yield cash sweep options available from most broker-dealers and RIA custodians today.

We also have several marketing-related articles this week, including: why it’s important to not just explain to clients the benefit of working with you but also the consequences of not working with you; how to change your seminar evaluation firms to get prospects to book more follow-up appointments; and how when it comes to complex services like financial planning, it’s not enough to simply show that the advisor has solutions to solve the client’s problems, it’s also necessary to engage in a conversation to help clients better define what the problems are that they’re really trying to solve for in the first place (which clients sometimes don’t realize themselves)!

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all around the theme of our very human struggle to be part of the herd and liked by others, and how it can adversely impact us: the first looks at how many advisors find themselves unhappy in their advisory firms because they build towards the peer pressure of what others are doing (e.g., “grow more!” or “get bigger!”) instead of focusing on the goals for the firm that will make them personally happy; the second explores how increasingly collaborative work environments are leading to rising employee overwhelm and burnout because it can be so hard to figure out how to say “no” to co-worker requests (especially when our identity is built around being the go-to person in the office that likes to help people as a “good team player”); and the last provides a powerful reminder that to be a good leader, it’s crucial to not always try to be “nice”, as the reality is that sometimes team members need hard feedback… instead, focus on being honest, consistent, and rigorous, and then deliver those messages as nicely as you reasonably can.

Enjoy the current installment of “weekend reading for financial planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with news about the latest IRS regulations that definitively close the door on the potential for individuals in high-tax-rate states to preserve their SALT deductions by converting them into charitable deductions to state-run charities instead, as the Service declares that donating to a state-run charity in exchange for a state tax credit amounts to a quid-pro-quo transaction that would reduce the deductible amount of the charitable contribution all the way to $0. Also in the news this week, though, was a look at what kinds of tax policy changes the Democrats might take up and propose in 2019, including repealing the SALT cap, if they are in fact able to retake control of Congress in the mid-term elections this fall.

Also in the news this week were a number of interesting articles about the economy and markets, including a major revision from the Bureau of Economic Analysis to the personal savings rate data that reveals the U.S. consumer is actually saving at a whopping 7.2% rate, which is well above 30-year averages (despite the fact that the so-called “wealth effect” normally decreases personal savings rates late in the economic growth cycle), the revelation that labor markets are becoming so tight that the mid-summer unemployment rate for 16-24-year-olds has dropped to a 52-year low, and a look at the recent buzz around President Trump’s proposal for changing quarterly earnings reports and guidance to become semi-annual (twice-per-year) instead and why, if we really want to reduce the focus on earnings and market volatility, the key is not to report earnings less often to instead to make the guidance more often (e.g., monthly or even daily through technology) so no one data point is ever so impactful anymore.

We also have several behavioral finance articles this week, from a look at what to do when clients don’t follow our advice (and why oftentimes clients aren’t actually looking for advice from their financial advisor about a major decision anyway, and really just want support for the decision they already made instead), to the importance of culture in determining whether advice is appropriate (or even relevant) for a client, why trying to imagine yourself in someone else’s shoes is actually a terrible way to understand their perspective (and how it’s far more effective to just ask them to share their perspective), and how managing clients so they don’t panic in a bear market isn’t just about dialing down the volatility in their portfolios so it doesn’t trigger any emotional fear in the first place, but also looking at how we as advisors can create ‘circuit-breakers’ that help to prevent a volatile market event from translating all the way into an actual hasty and ill-timed action.

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all around the theme of balancing financial wealth and time: the first looks at how one the greatest challenges in wealth accumulation is that we think of wealth in terms of the outwardly expensive things that people own (fancy homes, cars, and jewelry) when in reality it’s the decision not to buy those things that are the greatest driver of wealth (which means wealth is best created by what we don’t see, not by what we do see!); the second explores the trade-offs between time and money, and how sometimes the best advice we can give is not about how to prudently save money, but how to prudently spend money in order to save time instead; and the last explores the reasons why very affluent individuals sometimes choose to remain anonymous and unseen with their wealth, preferring instead to be rich but not famous (an important mindset for advisors to understand about their clients)!

Enjoy the current installment of “weekend reading for financial planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with the interesting news that a growing number of states are trying to limit the use of the terms “certified” or “registered” to only those who are actually certified or registered by a state agency or certifying body… raising the concern that “Certified” Financial Planning professionals might someday be prevented from using the term, and leading the FPA and CFP Board to join a multi-organization coalition called the “Professional Certification Coalition” fighting to differentiate bona fide certification credentials from the rest of the specious designations (in financial services and other industries) that state legislators are really trying to crack down on.

Also in the news this week is a brief look at the recent “FINRA Industry Snapshot” (a first-ever report from FINRA on the state of the brokerage industry, which finds that the number of broker-dealer firms and registered representatives has been declining steadily for 10 years… but revenue and profits continue to grow and hit record highs!), and a discussion of some of the public comment letters that came out earlier this month against the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest and new Form CRS proposals (including a stringent objection from a group of 17 state attorneys general that could form the basis of a legal challenge against the rule if the SEC decides to move forward).

From there, we have several advisor technology articles this week, from a look at how “robo” tools aren’t replacing advisory firms, but instead are allowing smaller advisory firms to run more efficiently than ever with the use of technology to automate away expensive back-office staff and administrative tasks, to tips on how to conduct third-party vendor due diligence for cybersecurity purposes, and why both advisors and their clients should be talking more about using Password Managers.

We also have a few retirement articles, including: the role that uncertainty (especially sequence of return risk, but also simply the changing nature of our lives over time) has in determining whether portfolios are depleted in retirement or not (which goes far beyond just investing for a sufficient long-term return); perspective on how economists that study lifecycle finance view traditional financial planning topics and strategies differently; and why a goals-based retirement planning approach is very problematic because, in the real world, most people don’t actually know what their goals are, and even if they think they do, the goals often change by the time the client gets closer to achieving it!

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all around the importance of habits (both breaking bad habits and improving good ones): the first looks at a number of recent books that highlight the latest research in how we form habits, change habits, and improve our willpower and self control; the second is a fascinating study at how we can improve our own self-confidence in our ability to control our behavior and break our bad habits (by adopting seemingly mindless rituals); and the last is a fascinating look at how even the most brilliant creatives still struggle, often for years, with a vision of what they want to achieve and knowing that their current work isn’t up to their own tastes, but that the key is maintaining the habit of continuing to do the work anyway with a focus on self-improvement, and it’s the repeated habit of practice combined with the vision of what your work can be that ultimately makes it great and successful!

Enjoy the current installment of “weekend reading for financial planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with the news that the IRS has issued new regulations to provide additional guidance on the Section 199A “pass-through business deduction”, with a particular focus on cracking down on professional services firms (which includes financial advisory firms) to prevent them from abusing potential “loopholes”, like cracking up their businesses into pieces that might have been eligible for the deduction.

Also in the news this week is a discussion that RIA custodians are considering whether to adopt a new pricing model of offering custody services for a basis point charge, rather than just trying to make money on the underlying products that clients implement… in what would be a very positive realignment of the costs that advisors and their clients pay with the value that custodians provide, but could be challenging to transition to the currently-less-transparent “free” model of custody for advisors.

From there, we have several retirement-related articles this week, including research on the kinds of words and images that consumers use to describe retirement (which importantly but not surprisingly varies depending on their own demographics and background), tips to prevent loneliness in retirement for new retirees who often unwittingly become very socially isolated, why more and more retirees are looking for “phased retirement” approaches that blend part-time work with retirement, and the real-world difficulties that many older workers are facing in actually finding meaningful part-time work in retirement.

We also have a few practice management articles, from a fascinating study about what next generation advisors really want in a financial planning job (with 78% wanting to do comprehensive financial planning, but only 2% showing interest in sales and marketing!), how to speed up training for next generation advisors by becoming a more effective mentor, and the rising demand of next generation advisors for family leave policies given that more and more are launching their financial planning careers while also starting a family.

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all around the value of reading itself to advance our knowledge and skills: the first explores the physiology of the brain and how reading literally helps the brain form new connections that can improve our fluid intelligence and ability to spot important patterns; the second looks at the important balance between both book knowledge and real-world knowledge (as book knowledge alone misses real-world applications, but real-world knowledge alone misses important patterns and opportunities that aren’t necessarily intuitive); and the last is a series of four “summer reading” book suggestions on the leading industry books that are most relevant to financial advisors today.

Enjoy the current installment of “weekend reading for financial planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with the big news that Fidelity has launched an entirely free index mutual fund, with an outright expense ratio of 0.0%, in what financially is only a modest decrease in cost from the near-zero expense ratios of many index funds already, but represents a major shift in the industry as asset managers officially begin to focus on generating revenue beyond “just” their investment products alone. Also in the news this week was an announcement that the Trump administration is considering a proposal that would index cost basis to inflation over time, effectively applying capital gains on only “real” gains (above inflation), in what would potentially be a game-changer for the relative value of taxable accounts over tax-preferenced retirement accounts (that would have no such basis adjustment).

Also in the news this week were a number of major industry announcements, including that the CFP Board will be launching a series of public forums over the next 18 months to train CFP professionals on the new Standards of Conduct (and gather feedback on where the Standards Resource Commission should issue additional guidance), the Financial Planning Association announces a newly updated “Primary Aim” for the organization with an increased focus on advocacy for the profession, and the latest FA Insight study shows that advisory firms continue to enjoy strong growth in the midst of an ongoing bull market but that profit margins continue to decline (now to an average of just 20%) as pressure rises on firms to reinvest in their value proposition to justify their fees (which are now also beginning to show signs of competition and compression).

From there, we have a number of regulatory articles, including a surprising SEC action against Schwab Advisor Services that may put newfound pressure on RIA custodians to have a more active role policing the RIAs that use their services (particularly with respect to anti-money laundering regulations), some new guidance from the SEC on what constitutes ‘inadvertent’ custody for which the RIA will not be punished for failing to adhere to the Custody Rule, legal risks to consider for advisors who are publishing content (e.g., blogs or newsletters) and don’t want to get in trouble for plagiarism or copyright violations, and a look at just how far the CFP Board’s fiduciary regulations have come in the past 11 years (and where they may go from here).

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all around the role and value of financial advisors in the eyes of consumers: the first is a fascinating look at what leads consumers to switch financial advisors, finding that changes in personal or financial circumstances (from divorce or marriage to significant increases in income or net worth) are most likely to cause a consumer to switch advisors (despite the fact those are often the “money in motion” triggers that cause clients to become more profitable for their existing advisor!); the second looks at how financial planning as a profession has evolved over the past 45 years since the first class of CFP certificants in 1973; and the last looks at new research on the value of financial designations themselves, finding that consumers with higher incomes and investable assets really do tend to pay more to advisors who have such professional designations!

Enjoy the current installment of “weekend reading for financial planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with a look at the recent Focus Financial IPO, which did in fact go off as planned this week, at a lower price than the rumored peak, but far higher than first anticipated when the IPO was announced, with trading that began at $33/share and closed at $37.55 after the company’s first day… which at a multiple of nearly 18X EBITDA, is both a tremendous validation of what markets in the aggregate still see as the promise of the independent RIA model, and will likely fuel a fresh wave of advisory firm roll-up aggregation and M&A.

Also in the news this week is a discussion of how CFP Board is beginning to gear up its compliance enforcement capabilities more than a year in advance of its new fiduciary Standards of Conduct that will take effect in October of 2019, and the questions that still linger after the FPA not only terminated its affiliation agreement with a challenged New York chapter but chose not to replace the chapter with a new independent nonprofit entity (as exists for its more-than-80 other chapters) and instead decided to roll the FPA of Metro New York into the national FPA organization, and raising questions about whether the approach may be a template for national attempting to centralize more of its chapter system in the coming years.

From there, we have several articles on investment themes, from a paper in the Financial Analysts Journal suggesting that Bill Sharpe’s famous “Arithmetic of Active Management” (suggesting that the average active manager return will and must underperform the market in the aggregate, net of fees) may not be valid in practice due to the existence of IPOs and share repurchases along with additions and deletions from public market indices (which creates opportunities for active managers to still add net value at the margins), to a look from Research Affiliates at when and whether investment manager selection is really worth the effort (at least compared to simply trying to help clients better manage their own behavior), and a candid look from Morningstar at how its own new Morningstar Analyst Ratings have performed after their first 5 years (finding that Gold ratings do predict risk-adjusted outperformance, and Negative-rated funds underperform, but Silver, Bronze, and Neutral funds are ending up in a murky middle).

We also have a series of articles on client communication, including some good icebreaker questions on how to get clients or prospects to start talking about themselves, 10 “tactless” things that advisors often have to tell clients to help them face reality, and what to consider in the unfortunate situation you actually need to communicate to a client that it’s time to end the relationship (i.e., to “fire” the client).

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all around the theme of how increased longevity, paired with increased connectivity, are changing the ways we work and the ways we take breaks from work: the first explores the rising interest, especially amongst Millennials, in taking sabbaticals (and even 1-2 year stints off from work) as an alternative to just working continuously for 40-50+ years (given increased longevity) and then taking the vacations all at the end; the second looks at how the conventional view is that you have flexibility to “goof off” and pursue your passions while you’re young, but in reality, we often don’t really know what we enjoy and want to pursue when we’re young, and that perhaps a better formula is to just focus on working hard in the early years and aim to pursue your passions in your 40s and 50s instead (when your life is more stable and you better know what you actually would want to do); and the last makes an interesting case that, in a 24/7 ever-connected world, perhaps it’s a good idea to deliberately live a “24/6” lifestyle, where we take one “digital sabbath” per week to completely unplug and focus on ourselves, our health, and our relationships… both because doing so seems to improve our happiness, and because the alternative has a greater risk of leading to burnout, anyway!